Jan 22 2012
A QlikView QuickStart: first steps for learning QlikView desktop
QlikTech’s QlikView reporting and analysis tool is among a new class of Business Intelligence (BI) software tools. As Ben Harden reported in a recent blog post, BI vendors like SAP, Microsoft, and IBM have traditionally sold “to the IT enterprise, but companies like QlikTech and Tableau are targeting the business and bypassing IT. Their tools are quicker to stand up, more intuitive and don’t need the configuration, support, and hardware that the bigger players require.”
A Quick Overview
At first look QlikView is fairly accessible to those experienced with BI tools. A “.qvw” QlikView file contains three classes of user-facing components: a script-based data integration language that runs when the user requests a “reload”, a data modeling component that looks deceptively like a relational data modeling tool, and a familiar array of data visualizations: graphics, charts, lists, etc.
Jan 18 2012
Scrum Estimation Methods
Jan 03 2012
Folders are Evil! (And what to do about them)
Folders provide a single faceted, single point of failure that has limited users and caused inefficiency and risk across Enterprises for years. This is largely due to the nature of a folder. It provides a single source of storage with security options, but once you start nesting folders it creates a single path that may be forgotten or corrupted by improper naming or governance failings. Many organizations complain that their file shares are out of control, and while they may have begun with the best of intentions, the intended use was either not clearly identified or sustained and the end result looks something like the following. How will an organization know where their “real” content is located?
An even better question is “What makes folders and file shares evil?” Key factors behind “Folder Fail” are as follows:
Dec 16 2011
Avoiding the Danger of Facilitating SMEs
Most projects will take a Train the Trainer (TTT) approach to save time and money. TTT can be an invaluable tool for projects and increase adoption rates for new processes and technologies. Handled poorly however, TTT can do more harm than good. If your TTT approach consists only of identifying SMEs, handing them a presentation and off to teach the class they go- you are setting your training up to fail.
TTT works when the SME has been trained previously as a facilitator. Teaching effectively is much more than knowing the subject matter, standing in front of colleagues and speaking. Where TTT approaches fail is that they don't teach the basics of good facilitating.
SMES often know the material too well. They can struggle to break it down to its most basic elements. For example, would you hire someone with a PhD in auto mechanics to teach your 15 year old how to drive?
Dec 14 2011
Project reviews, deliverables’ reviews and constructive criticisms
Project managers often face tough times when they need to pull the strings that may make others uncomfortable. Those mainly include conducting project reviews for balancing the triple constraints, facilitating the reviews of the deliverables for quality or compliance, and providing constructive criticism to the team members for corrective or preventive actions.
Everyone likes to hear or deliver good news, however good project managers are expected to be the experts at relaying when things don’t go as planned, typically coupled with a pro-active solution.
The following are the most successful approaches good project managers often practice.